Eco-Hypesters Complain About ‘Dirty’ Clean Energy 

by Andrew Walden

Hysteria-mongering chemophobia group ’Food and Water Watch’ is now taking aim at so-called clean energy with the July, 2018 release of a report titled "Cleanwashing How States Count Polluting Energy Sources as Renewable".  

Amusingly, FWW accurately includes geothermal as a 100% emission-free clean energy source.  This would put them at odds with the hordes of Punatics among its core constituency if the Punatics were able to pay attention.

On the other hand, maybe anti-GMO dupes in skeleton suits will now start showing up at the filthy crony-capitalist Hu Honua biomass station being built just north of Hilo.

Hawaii’s ‘B-‘ from FWW is the highest grade in the USA --earned mostly from the state’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045.  Of course FWW makes no mention of the fact that this ‘100%’ standard does not mean the end of fossil-fuels in Hawaii.  Hawaii rules call for construction of so-called ‘clean’ energy sources with a nameplate capacity equal to 100% of consumption—not 100% of energy coming from ‘clean’ sources.

FWW complains about the burning of wood, waste methane from landfills, and municipal solid waste and points out that wind, solar and geothermal will comprise only 56% of Hawaii's 100% in 2045.  (It is not clear whether they factored in the lava flow which just isolated Hawaii's only geothermal plant.)

FWW also ignores the biofuel shell game HECO employs to allow itself to continue building diesel plants.   

In 2009--the first full year of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative--HECO trumpeted the opening of Campbell Industrial Park Combustion Turbine 1--a 110MW 'peaker plant' powered by 100% biofuel.

In 2015 HECO added a 'second' biofuel plant--50MW powered by a biofuel-diesel blend--to be built at Schofield barracks.  At the time, Schofield was tied for second-largest of the projects on the Hawaii Clean Energy Leaderboard. 

The 'second' biofuel plant, brought online June 1, 2018, is now be the 'only' biofuel plant.  When Schofield was brought on line, the Campbell plant--more than twice as large as Schofield—was quietly converted to run on diesel fuel. 

PDF: FWW Full Report

Biofuel Shell Game: How Giant Diesel Plant Became part of Hawaii's 'Clean' Energy Future

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